First solo dive - not without glitches!

[Divor]

Hi all,

Today I did my first solo dive at the Rockingham Wreck Trail near Perth, Australia. I was diving doubles on regular air. Swell was about 1.5 m, and very little wind (for here in Western Australia, that is).

The wreck trail is a shore dive. They have sank wrecks and connected them with ropes, what makes it an easy dive. Bottom's very silty though, so the visibility is murky at best.

I went to the deepest shipwreck first at about 17.5 meters and headed towards the airplanes at about 12 meters after that. This is where I did my first valve drill. After closing the isolator and the right valve, I switched to my octo and when I grabbed it, I just had the plastic casing from my piston reg in my hand, i.e. it had fallen apart. I quickly reopened my right valve and then the isolator and switched back to my primary and tried to fix the reg. After about 3 minutes of trying and testing, I had fixed the reg and did the valve drill as planned.

Afterwards I swam to the shallow big wreck at 10 meters and did a second valve drill there. I ascended to 5 meters and deployed my safety sausage and hung in there for three minutes. Ascended slowly after that and that was the end of the dive, with total bottom time of 45 minutes.

All in all it was a good experience and I really enjoyed not having to look around for a buddy and being able to concentrate on diving itself. I did fully realise I was in charge of my own safety when my occy failed, and acted accordingly. It was a funny feeling when I finished the first valve drill and made the 'ok' sign and then realised there was nobody to see that sign but me and the fish.

I'll be diving solo again for sure, as I do think it makes you a better diver.

 

[kanonfodr]

It's good to hear you stayed calm when faced with a problem like your octo coming apart underwater. I also like the fact that I've only got to worry about myself when I'm going solo, which is a nice change from some of the newer buddies I go diving with. As far as the ok, at least you reassured yourself .

Peace,
Greg

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Thanks for posting your experience Divor. It sounds like you handled it well, and I'm glad it ended happily.

Question: Was it the 2nd stage cover that fell off the octo? Had the regulator been serviced recently?? The reason I ask is this type of mishap is most common immediately after the regulator is serviced, and points to a problem with how the service was performed.

I'm glad it ended well whatever the root cause of the problem.

Best wishes.

 

[Divor]

Question: Was it the 2nd stage cover that fell off the octo? Had the regulator been serviced recently??

It was an Oceanic piston reg that I am borrowing from the shop where I'm doing my TDI Adv. EANx and Deco Proc. course.

This is what the reg looks like:

The whole casing came loose, I had probably not tightened it enough after I gave it a check after last dive. It was freeflowing a lot during that dive so I had opened it to give it a check. Brought it to the shop, they had a look too. It probably unscrewed in the bag during transport, and I didn't do my pre-dive equipment check thoroughly enough.

Will check it better next time, though. Learned my lesson!

Cheers

 

[Keith & Sharon]

Note to self- Buy my own quality regs for solo diving. See above as to why renting gear is not a good idea.

Glad to hear things turned out ok.


Keith

 

[idocsteve]

It was a funny feeling when I finished the first valve drill and made the 'ok' sign and then realised there was nobody to see that sign but me and the fish.

That's a bit disconcerting.

You were doing the underwater equivalent of talking to yourself.

They say that's the first sign of insanity.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

That's a bit disconcerting.

You were doing the underwater equivalent of talking to yourself.

They say that's the first sign of insanity...

There is no hope for me then. I talk to fishes and sea turtles, sigh. Time for the padded room for me

Divor: Thanks for posting the picture of the 2nd stage. Now I understand what you were describing.

There are predive regulator checks that can be performed, one is the "hand-tightness" check (for lack of a better term): Basically, you make sure that you cannot easily unscrew or remove any of the hose fittings, reg covers, mouthpiece, etc., with your bare hands. They should be snug and secure. This ensures that they will not fall off during the dive.... this does not mean that hoses and 2nd stage covers should be overtightened, but they should be tight enough that they will never fall off during normal use.

That piece should not have come off during a reg switch underwater. Very dangerous in an emergency if you had actually needed to rely on that reg.

Time to invest in your own regulators.

Again, good job handling the incident.

Best wishes.

 

[idocsteve]

There is no hope for me then. I talk to fishes and sea turtles, sigh. Time for the padded room for me

Ah but you're not talking to yourself or giving signals to nonexistant buddies.

You're interacting with the aquatic life.

NOW...if you're expecting an intelligent response, you might as well exchange your wetsuit for one of these:

 

[JahJahwarrior]

I did not know that solo divers were supposed to be performing valve shut off drills at depth.

I'll check to ensure I can reach my valves at the surface, but I don't know how much I would encourage valve shut off drills at depth while solo.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Ah but you're not talking to yourself or giving signals to nonexistant buddies.

You're interacting with the aquatic life.

NOW...if you're expecting an intelligent response, you might as well exchange your wetsuit for one of these:

Uhhh, now wait a sec Doc, who said you could post my picture on the internet!!!

So much for HIPPA regulations.... And that's the last time you get to photograph one of our sessions!!!

Best wishes.